Equestrian center upgrades near approval

The developer of an upgrade project at Rose Dhu Creek Plantation's equestrian center moved one step closer to final approval Tuesday after addressing initial environmental concerns.

The plan, reviewed at a town development committee meeting, includes a new 3,525-square-foot horse stable, a 1,752-square-foot storage barn, relocation of a riding arena, and new stormwater runoff infrastructure.

Town planners previously called for calculations showing the project won't increase stormwater runoff and pollutant loads. They also insisted on more detailed plans for a water-quality station and erosion control downstream.

The Rose Dhu Creek Plantation development, which includes the equestrian center, ranked among the sites of highest fecal pollution concentrations for the two years of sampling data used to draft the town's May River clean-up plan.

State environmental regulators shut down oyster harvesting in a four-mile section of the May River in 2009 after detecting high levels of fecal coliform bacteria, a contaminant found in the waste of animals, humans, or from certain human activities.

The new water-quality control station would be placed in front of a pipe feeding the May River to impede the flow of stormwater, allowing the soil around it to absorb much of the runoff, said Mark Maxwell, a planner representing the owner of Rose Dhu Creek Plantation, Philip Warth.

The only hurdle remaining for the project is official submission of supporting documentation to town engineers that explains how the plans lower stormwater runoff and keep pollutant concentrations neutral, said Shawn Leininger, town planner.

"They want to know how you got to the answer," explained Maxwell.

No representative for a proposed McDonald's at the southwest corner of Buckwalter Parkway and Progressive Street showed up at the meeting. The company needs to address previous committee comments to move ahead to final approval.